Applebees expanding big in the neighborhood

Apple-Metro, the exclusive franchisee of Applebees Neighborhood Grill & Bar in the New York metro area is on an expansion tear in the city, opening two restaurants this month in the Bronx alone.

Capitalizing on a weakened real estate market, Apple-Metro plans to open six restaurants in total this year, investing about $15 million to do so.

I have never opened this many restaurants in a single year, said Zane Tankel, chief executive of Apple-Metro, which operates 29 eateries in the area. I noticed the downturn early last year and began aggressively pursuing sites. The company has a bank loan and is using its own cash to fund the projects.

Next week, he is opening an eatery across from Fordham University and later this month an Applebees in the Bronx Terminal Market. Other restaurants are planned in Flushing, Queens, Harlem and Westchester County.

The Harlem eaterys opening was briefly derailed last month but seems to be back on track.

On July 17, a State Supreme Court justice ruled against Apple-Metro in a lease dispute, in which the company was supposed to open an Applebees in a Harlem building co-owned by the National Black Theater and Nubian Partners.

The theaters founder, the late Barbara Ann Teer, had argued that Applebees is not consistent with the theaters cultural mission.

While Apple-Metro counter sued for breach of contractand the litigation continuesit recently signed another deal across the street from the theater at 1 W. 125th St.

We lost hundreds of thousands of dollars on the first deal, said Mr. Tankel, but he believes he is saving money on the terms of his new lease. Two years ago, he said rents in Harlem on 125th Street were running between $125 and $150 a square foot. Im paying less than $100 a foot now.

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